Hummingbird and Paper Airplane

As part of the Railway Enhancement Project, artists Brad Carney and Dom Lyner collaborated with the community to create four designs for Big Belly trash cans near the underpass at 10th and Diamond Streets. Part of a larger project including three murals installed as part of DHCDC Choice Neighborhoods Grant, the designs are inspired by photography of the surrounding neighborhoods. Conversations with children, adults, and local students provided a vision for the compositions. Bright and colorful was a key message to bring attention to the locations of the Big Belly trash cans. The artists created a sense of “home” by using objects and images relative to the surrounding areas. Wrought iron, fencing, and building facades provide landscapes for flowers, birds, and other objects from daily life. A mix of silhouettes and linear drawings inspired by the children and students bring the “inner child” to life as pedestrians find their way to the Big Belly.

About the Railway Enhancement Project:
The result of numerous community meetings in North Philadelphia neighborhoods over 2019-2020, The Viaduct was a monumental effort and collaboration between artists and community leaders to turn three heavily-traveled underpasses into safe and vibrant spaces for all. The designs are reflective of the strength and resilience of surrounding neighborhoods and pay homage to the complexity, history, and beauty of the community, portrayed in bright, abundant colors to demonstrate the power of accomplishing together what we cannot do alone. Magic Hour is part of this larger project, which originally included three sites (completed in 2020) and was expanded to include the Berks SEPTA station as a fourth site. The project is funded by the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is a lead partner in implementing the grant.

Community Engagement:
As part of the design development process artists were asked to host a series of community events in the neighborhood near their assigned underpass mural. These events started in January 2019 and ran through early spring 2020. They ranged from painting large sunflowers and making mosaic pots, to community dinners and a dress-up photoshoot. Events helped artists further engage with the community, collect input, images and stories to help evolve their designs. Photographers Shawn Theodore and John Noble captured the community spirit of these events.